Operation Mincemeat was a highly successful British deception operation executed during the Second World War. The primary goal was to mislead the Axis powers regarding the intended target of the 1943 Allied invasion of the Mediterranean, specifically shifting focus away from Sicily.
To achieve this, intelligence officers acquired the body of Glyndwr Michael, a homeless man who had died from rat poison. They dressed the corpse as a Royal Marines officer named Captain William Martin and planted forged correspondence on him. These documents suggested that the Allies intended to invade Greece and Sardinia, framing the actual assault on Sicily as a mere diversionary feint.